WHO working definition of vitality capacity for healthy longevity monitoring

Ivan Bautmans, Veerle Knoop, Jotheeswaran Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan, Andrea B Maier, John R Beard, Ellen Freiberger, Daniel Belsky, Mylene Aubertin-Leheudre, Christopher Mikton, Matteo Cesari, Yuka Sumi, Theresa Diaz, Anshu Banerjee, WHO Working Group on Vitality Capacity, Ivan Bautmans, Veerle Knoop, Jotheeswaran Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan, Andrea B Maier, John R Beard, Ellen Freiberger, Daniel Belsky, Mylene Aubertin-Leheudre, Christopher Mikton, Matteo Cesari, Yuka Sumi, Theresa Diaz, Anshu Banerjee, WHO Working Group on Vitality Capacity

Abstract

Intrinsic capacity, a crucial concept in healthy ageing, is defined by WHO as "the composite of all the physical and mental capacities that an individual can draw on at any point in time". Vitality capacity is considered the underlying physiological determinant of intrinsic capacity. To advance the measurement and monitoring of vitality capacity, a working group of WHO staff members and twenty experts representing six WHO regions was convened to discuss and clarify the attributes of vitality capacity and to develop a clear working definition of the concept. Potential biomarkers to measure vitality capacity were identified, and the following consensual working definition was developed: vitality capacity is a physiological state (due to normal or accelerated biological ageing processes) resulting from the interaction between multiple physiological systems, reflected in (the level of) energy and metabolism, neuromuscular function, and immune and stress response functions of the body.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests DB reports grants or contracts from the US National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging (R21AG054846, R01AG066887, R01AG061378, U01CA164920, R01AG058683, R01AG032282, R01AG057800), the Russel Sage Foundation (BioSS Grant 1810-08987), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CF-0249–CP22-034), Columbia University (Calderone Health Equity Award, Pilot Grant), and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (Pilot Grant); licences from DunedinPACE–TruDiagnostic (no royalties have been received); consulting fees from University of Oslo PROMENTA Center (centre faculty); support for attending meetings or travel from the US National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging, Telomere Research Network, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, University of Oslo PROMENTA Center, and CALERIE Biorepository; participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board for Broad River Asset Management; and is a Scientific Advisory Board member at Broad River Asset Management. All other authors declare no competing interests. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this Personal View and does not necessarily represent the views, decisions, or policies of the institutions with which they are affiliated.

Copyright © 2022 World Health Organization; licensee Elsevier. This is an Open Access article published under the CC BY 3.0 IGO license which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any use of this article, there should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organisation, products or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article's original URL.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Framework of intrinsic capacity discussed during the expert meeting SASP=senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Reproduced from Beard et al, by permission of Oxford University Press.

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